Competition

January 15, 1989|By Edwin J. Kudalis.

MT. PROSPECT — To respond to the Jan. 3 editorial ``America can compete if it wants to,`` I would reply, ``Yes it can, but it cannot possibly win unless our government provides a level playing field.``

Only then can we possibly compete against foreign competition. It`s not fair to say that American labor is paid too much, spends too much and cannot produce a good product. After all, it is the American working class that provides the bulk of tax money for defense, foreign aid, welfare, road building, schools and Social Security.

How can we possibly pay for all that and yet compete against the slavelike labor of other countries? In Mexico, for example, along the U.S. border there are 1,400 plants; 90 percent are American operated, employing 390,000 workers who earn a pathetic $4 to $5 for a full day`s work. As competition among internationalists becomes fiercer, even this low wage will become prohibitive.

Practically all the major high-tech devices we enjoy today were invented and developed in the United States, and every single item was stolen to be produced in another country. Our government will not protect our inventions. Is it any wonder that no one is willing to invest in research anymore?

More and more Americans, though employed in full-time jobs, cannot afford an apartment. Yet our government will not stop imports that are taking away the better-paying jobs.